TY - JOUR A1 - Wu, Y. A1 - Lu, X. A1 - Cho, J.I.S. A1 - Rasha, L. A1 - Whiteley, M. A1 - Neville, T. P. A1 - Ziesche, R. A1 - Kardjilov, N. A1 - Markötter, Henning A1 - Manke, I. A1 - Zhang, X. A1 - Shearing, P. R. A1 - Brett, D. J. L. T1 - Multi-length scale characterization of compression on metal foam flow-field based fuel cells using X-ray computed tomography and neutron radiography N2 - The mechanical compression of metal foam flow-field based polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) is critical in determining the interfacial contact resistance with gas diffusion layers (GDLs), reactant flow and water management. The distinct scale between the pore structure of metal foams and the entire flow-field warrant a multilength scale characterization that combines ex-situ tests of compressed metal foam samples and in-operando analysis of operating PEFCs using X-ray computed tomography (CT) and neutron radiography. An optimal ‘medium’ compression was found to deliver a peak power density of 853 mW/cm². The X-ray CT data indicates that the compression process significantly decreases the mean pore size and narrows the pore size distribution of metal foams. Simulation results suggest compressing metal foam increases the pressure drop and gas velocity, improving the convective liquid water removal. This is in agreement with the neutron imaging results that demonstrates an increase in the mass of accumulated liquid water with minimum compression compared to the medium and maximum compression cases. The results show that a balance between Ohmic resistance, water removal capacity and parasitic power is imperative for the optimal performance of metal foam based PEFCs. KW - Fuel cell KW - Compression effect KW - Metal foam microstructure KW - Neutron radiography KW - X-ray CT PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2020.113785 VL - 239 SP - 10 EP - 113785 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-53842 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ziesche, R. F. A1 - Robinson, J. B. A1 - Markötter, Henning A1 - Bradbury, R. A1 - Tengattini, A. A1 - Lenoir, N. A1 - Helfen, L. A1 - Kockelmann, W. A1 - Kardjilov, N. A1 - Manke, I. A1 - Brett, D. J. L. A1 - Shearing, P. R. T1 - Editors’ Choice—4D Neutron and X-ray Tomography Studies of High Energy Density Primary Batteries: Part II. Multi-Modal Microscopy of LiSOCl2 Cells N2 - The ability to track electrode degradation, both spatially and temporally, is fundamental to understand performance loss during operation of lithium batteries. X-ray computed tomography can be used to follow structural and morphological changes in electrodes; however, the direct detection of electrochemical processes related to metallic lithium is difficult due to the low sensitivity to the element. In this work, 4-dimensional neutron computed tomography, which shows high contrast for lithium, is used to directly quantify the lithium diffusion process in spirally wound Li/SOCl2 primary cells. The neutron dataset enables the quantification of the lithium transport from the anode and the accumulation inside the SOCl2 cathode to be locally resolved. Complementarity between the collected neutron and X-ray computed tomographies is shown and by applying both methods in concert we have observed lithium diffusion blocking by the LiCl protection layer and identified all cell components which are difficult to distinguish using one of the methods alone. KW - Lithium-ion battery KW - Room-temperature KW - Thermal runaway KW - Gas evolution KW - Cells PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-520890 DO - https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/abbfd9 VL - 167 SP - 140509 PB - IOP Science AN - OPUS4-52089 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Trogadas, P. A1 - Cho, J. I. S. A1 - Rasha, L. A1 - Lu, X. A1 - Kardjilov, N. A1 - Markötter, Henning A1 - Manke, I. A1 - Shearing, P. R. A1 - Brett, D. J. L. A1 - Coppens, M. O. T1 - A nature-inspired solution for water management in flow fields for electrochemical devices N2 - A systematic, nature-inspired chemical engineering approach is employed to solve the issue of flooding in electrochemical devices. The mechanism of passive water transport utilized by lizards living in arid environments is leveraged to design flow-fields with a microchannel structure on their surface, through which capillary pressure rapidly removes the water generated in the electrochemical device. This water management strategy is implemented in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) with a lunginspired flow-field, which ensures uniform distribution of reactants across the catalyst layer. Jointly, this nature-inspired approach results in flood-free, stable operation at 100% RH and a B60% increase in current (B1.9 A cm-2) and peak power density (B650 mW cm−2) compared to current PEMFCs with a flood-prone, serpentine flow-field (B0.8 A cm-2 and 280 mW cm-2, respectively). This significant advance allows for PEMFC operation at fully humidified conditions. KW - Neutron imaging KW - X-ray tomography KW - Fuel cell PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-596662 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d3ee03666a VL - 17 SP - 2007 EP - 2017 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) AN - OPUS4-59666 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -